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3. Ashes to ashes had a different meaning to the Persians
The Persians used ashes to execute criminals, in more than one manner but equaling appalling to modern sensibilities. One method forced the convict to stand in a room which was filled with several feet of ash covering the floor until exhaustion forced to collapse. Over the course of often several days, the victim would inhale ash into the lungs, eventually causing suffocation. The victim was denied food and water, and as often died of thirst as from suffocating from the ashes. The second form of execution by ashes is described in the bible (2 Maccabees) as well as recorded by the Roman historian Valerius Maximus during the reign of Emperor Tiberius.
The second method consisted of a tower which was partially filled with ash, into which the victim was dropped. Paddles submerged in the ash were connected with wheels outside of the tower, which were rotated by executioners from outside of the tower. The paddles stirred the ash into the air, forcing the victim to breathe them in, gradually causing death by suffocation or heart failure. The method of execution was used to kill Menelaus, the Jewish high priest in Jerusalem, circa 162 BCE. Execution by ashes was usually reserved for those guilty of fomenting rebellion against the state or its appointed officers, as was the case of Menelaus.